Chapter 773 - 773: Chapter-771 The Win

In the stands at Wembley.

Watching that goal go in, Dein and Abdullah were both beaming with excitement.

Abdullah couldn't hold himself back any longer. He burst out laughing, clapping Dein hard on the shoulder, his voice was ringing with excitement. "Great! Wonderful! David, you've done magnificently. This money was well spent—not a penny was wasted!"

Dein watched the crushing Reds on the pitch and laughed too.

"Rest assured, the depth of our squad now is enough to field two or three competitive sides. Whether it's the Premier League's gruelling schedule or the Champions League's clashes between giants, we can handle it all with ease. We don't need to worry about tired players, and we don't need to fear any opponent."

Hearing this, Abdullah nodded in satisfaction and waved a big hand, generous as ever. "Good! From here on, whether it's adjusting the squad or reinforcing it further, go ahead and do it without worrying. If someone isn't good enough, swap him out. If we don't have enough, buy more!

As long as it keeps Liverpool winning and brings home more trophies, money is no big deal!"

The two men exchanged a smile.

This 4-0 crushing victory was not only a perfect start to the new season, but also the best possible return on the fortune they had thrown around in the summer transfer window.

Dein loved an owner like this.

On the pitch.

After Liverpool finished celebrating, the match resumed.

But the Chelsea players had long since fallen apart, and Sturridge's goal had crushed what little fight they had left.

Chelsea's counterattacks became feeble and lifeless.

The struggle of the first half was gone. They simply jogged around the pitch like automatons, as though waiting for the match to end.

At last, as time ticked away second by second, the referee blew the final whistle.

Peep!!

The crisp whistle split the sky above Wembley, declaring the end of the 2014-15 Community Shield—Liverpool had thrashed Chelsea 4-0 and lifted the first trophy of the new season!

Boom!

Boom-boom!!

In an instant, Wembley was completely swallowed by a tide of red. Liverpool's players charged madly toward one another, embracing, high-fiving, roaring.

Some players dropped to both knees, hands raised high; others waved their arms, saluting the fans in the stands.

Klopp, meanwhile, was surrounded by players and staff. He spread his arms and hugged every one of them, and the smile on his face never left.

Most thrilled of all were the new signings—Kroos, Pogba, Hummels and the rest.

They had only just joined Liverpool, and already they had won the first trophy with the team. The joy of it was beyond words.

The Liverpool fans in the stands were swept up in the celebration too.

Red scarves waved into a sea.

The sound of the club anthem, cheering and roaring mingled together and rang to the heavens!

Many fans, overcome with emotion, had tears in their eyes as they shouted, "Liverpool are champions!"

They celebrated the team's first title of the new season to their hearts' content.

Dein and Abdullah rose to their feet as well and applauded the pitch. It was only a charity match, but it was a pleasure all the same.

All of Liverpool was celebrating.

Soon, the trophy presentation began.

An FA official, holding the Community Shield trophy, walked slowly toward the presentation platform.

The Liverpool players lined up in neat rows, with captain Gerrard at the front, smiling.

When the FA official placed the heavy trophy in Gerrard's hands, the roar of the crowd reached its peak.

Gerrard raised the trophy high and shook it vigorously.

The players immediately crowded around, laying their hands on the trophy, cheering and shouting together, their red kits were gleaming in the sunlight.

Kroos, Pogba and the other new signings reached out one after another to stroke the trophy.

They knew this was only the beginning. They were confident that they would win many more trophies!

Klopp stood to one side, watching his celebrating players, his smile was unceasing. This brand-new Liverpool was advancing steadily toward the clean sweep of trophies he had in mind.

After the match in his interview, Klopp said, "I'm very happy to have won this trophy. It's the first of our new season, the best reward for our efforts in the summer, and a recognition of every player and member of staff at the club."

"Today we showed a powerful dominance. Whether starters or substitutes, everyone played superbly. That's inseparable from the enormous support the club has given us—the summer signings have made our squad more complete and more competitive.

But I must stress that this Community Shield is only the starting point of our new season. We have bigger ambitions: defending the Premier League title, conquering the Champions League. We want to fight for every honour there is to be won. Now, everyone in this team is ready!"

When asked about the new signings' performances, Klopp said with a smile, "Kroos, Pogba and Hummels have done very well. They've integrated quickly since arriving and kept up with the team's rhythm, and today's victory owes a great deal to them. I believe that as the squad continues to gel, we'll become even stronger. Nobody can stop us from moving forward."

On the other side, Mourinho, in his own interview, did not accept defeat graciously. Defending today's loss, he said, "The result is certainly disappointing, but we have to admit that Liverpool spent a lot, a lot of money. They've assembled a very good squad, and in individual quality and squad depth they have the advantage over us. With that kind of investment, this kind of result is not surprising."

"Our players gave everything, but against a team built on money, we really had little chance of fighting back. Liverpool's squad depth and player quality are among the best in the game today, and their victory owes more to the advantage of their squad."

Just when the reporters thought the interview was about to end, Mourinho added, "Of course, I must also admit that they have a world-champion-level squad, especially the French players—De Rocca, Pogba, Kanté. Their individual ability and understanding of each other are top class. With players like that, Liverpool's competitiveness speaks for itself."

Liverpool fans, naturally, took the opportunity to give Mourinho a good ribbing.

For example:

Didn't Chelsea build their empire on splashing cash in the first place?

Wasn't it Chelsea who kicked off the era of petrodollar football?

Sky Sports, meanwhile, published an article immediately after the match:

The 2014-15 Community Shield final has come to an end at Wembley, where Liverpool crushed Chelsea 4-0 to comfortably claim the first trophy of the new season.

This victory is not only a perfect start to the season for the Reds; it also announces to all of Europe that, after a blockbuster summer of reinforcements, Liverpool have firmly joined the continent's top tier and become the strongest contenders for every title this season.

Throughout the match, Liverpool's dominance was astonishing.

From first whistle to last, the Reds firmly held the initiative, and even after rotating their core players in the second half, they kept Chelsea pinned down and gave their opponents no chance of a comeback.

In the first half, Julien dictated the course of the game. Whether it was a powerful run down the flank, a precise through ball on the edge of the box, or a sharp follow-up finish in front of goal, every touch he took carried a lethal threat to Chelsea's defence.

Ivanovic was left on the floor by his dribbling, Terry was neatly tied up by his movement, and this French star used sheer individual brilliance to tear apart Chelsea's entire back line, becoming the deserving man of the match.

If Julien's individual ability was the key to Liverpool's victory, then the team's frightening squad depth was the fundamental guarantee that let the Reds crush their opponents so easily.

In the summer, Liverpool splashed out on blockbuster signings. The arrivals of world-class stars such as Kroos, Pogba and Hummels upgraded the Liverpool squad across the board, shrinking the gap between starters and substitutes to almost nothing.

In the second half, Klopp decisively took off his two core players, De Rocca and Suárez, and brought on Coutinho, Sturridge, Kanté and others. Even without their core players on the pitch, Liverpool kept up a powerful attack and a solid defence. Coutinho and De Bruyne each came close with long-range efforts, Pogba, unshackled, delivered a precise assist, and Sturridge scored with ease to seal the win.

It is hard to imagine that a top striker like Sturridge, who has scored 10-plus Premier League goals in a single season, can now only serve as a substitute at Liverpool; or that a player with world-class creativity like Coutinho can only look for chances in the rotation squad.

Squad depth like this is rare across the whole of European football.

Liverpool have enough to build two or three competitive starting lineups, and to handle both the Premier League's arduous schedule and the Champions League's clashes between giants with ease. That is the core reason the Reds could rotate so freely in this match and still maintain their dominance.

Chelsea, by contrast—although Mourinho stubbornly blamed the defeat on Liverpool's heavy spending after the match—cannot deny that the gap between the two sides has widened across the board.

Chelsea were under pressure from Liverpool throughout. They struggled to raise any effective attack, were riddled with holes at the back, and, facing wave after wave of pressure, could only chase shadows. They lost 4-0, and their pride was in tatters.

In the new season, Liverpool's ambition is plain to see. Klopp said openly after the match that the Community Shield is only a starting point, and the strength of his squad is more than enough to back up that ambition.

Defending the Premier League title, conquering the Champions League—the Reds are marching steadily toward their goal of a clean sweep of trophies, and this crushing Community Shield victory is only the beginning of their legendary journey.

--

And all of this had little to do with the Liverpool players themselves.

After the new season began, Klopp kept the training intensity high. Although they had won a trophy, there was no time off.

Instead, they kept training. Preparing for the first round of the Premier League, a home match against Southampton.

Time passed quickly in training.

The new signings gradually gelled with the old hands.

On August 16, the first matchday of the 2014-15 Premier League arrived as scheduled.

Anfield was already drowned in a sea of red.

An hour before kick-off, the stadium was already packed to the rafters.

The sound of "You'll Never Walk Alone" rang through every corner of Anfield. This fervour, unique to the Reds, was not only support for the team but boundless expectation for the new season.

Fresh from the baptism of the Community Shield triumph, Liverpool's players were in high spirits.

Klopp fielded a brand-new lineup: Julien and Suárez partnering up front again, Kroos, De Bruyne, Gerrard and Kanté holding down a four-man midfield, Hummels and Van Dijk leading the back line, and Čech guarding the goal.

As the players walked out, the whole crowd erupted, and Anfield's roar rose to a new level again!

Southampton, although playing away, had also brought a fair number of traveling fans, who tried to cheer their team on with their shouts, only to be quickly drowned out completely by the sound of the Reds' supporters.

After the players shook hands and saluted one another, they returned to their own halves.

After the pre-match ceremony ended.

The referee raised his whistle—Peep!!!

With the ring of a crisp whistle, the match officially began!

Liverpool won possession first, launching the first attack of the new season.

Anfield's roar instantly erupted once more, urging the team on.

Liverpool's players attacked ferociously from the opening moments!

One wave of pressure forced Southampton to fall back in a hurry.

From the very start, Southampton felt tremendous defensive pressure!

Then, in the 5th minute.

Kroos took the ball in midfield and passed it to Julien, who was surging forward on the left.

Receiving the ball, Julien used his pace to quickly beat Southampton's right back. He didn't go to the byline.

Instead, with a sudden feint, he cut inside and drove with the ball all the way to the edge of the box.

Faced with two Southampton defenders closing him down, Julien didn't rush the shot. Instead, he keenly spotted Suárez making a run into the box.

With a soft touch he slipped free of the defenders' clutches and played a low, driven through ball. It cut through Southampton's back line and arrived steadily at Suárez's feet.

Suárez took the ball and let it run on with a smooth touch.

Facing the Southampton keeper, he calmly slotted it home, and the ball slid easily into the net!

1-0!

In Liverpool's opening match of the new season, they broke the deadlock in just 5 minutes!

Suárez had scored the first league goal of the new season!

Boom!

Boom-boom!!

In an instant, Anfield went completely wild!

Suárez ran toward the touchline, waving frantically, roaring, celebrating with wild excitement!

He saluted the fans in the stands, then turned and embraced Julien tightly as he rushed up.

Last season's golden partnership had once again delivered for the team with perfect combination play in the first match of the new season.

At this moment, the commentator gasped, "This is the strength of Liverpool! Unbelievable—just 5 minutes, and the Reds break the deadlock. This attacking efficiency is simply unstoppable!

Julien is just too good. From receiving the ball to the run to that final through ball, every step is flawless!

That final low through ball was precise to the extreme, landing right at Suárez's feet without the slightest deviation. What a pass! And look at Suárez—his movement was smart too, his timing on the run was absolutely perfect.

He finished it in one go after receiving the ball, a perfect display of a top striker's finishing ability. This golden pair really haven't disappointed!

An opening this dreamlike shows us the Reds' dominance. This season, they will surely be the strongest contenders for both the Premier League and the Champions League. With attacking firepower like this, it's doubtful any team can stop them!"

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